Saturday, 16 May 2015

Pope: Fearful and joyless communities are not Christian

Pope: Fearful and joyless communities are not Christian

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday (May 15th) urged Catholic
bishops of the Central African Republic (CAR) to promote inter-religious
dialogue and peaceful co-existence and encourage their flock to respond
to hatred and violence with forgiveness and love. The Pope’s appeal
came in a speech that was handed to the bishops of the African nation
during an audience with him in the Vatican. CAR is just emerging from
two years of violent conflict between Muslim and Christian armed groups
that killed thousands of people and displaced around a million others.

Listen to this report by Susy Hodges:

In his address to the CAR bishops who are in Rome on their ad-limina
visit, Pope Francis referred to the recent sectarian violence in the
African nation and the huge suffering this has caused to many of its
population. He said he was particularly grateful for the assistance that
many Catholic communities provided to victims of the violence and to
those who were displaced. “Your task is difficult,” he told the bishops
but stressed that when violence and hatred are unleashed, that’s when
Christians "are called to respond with forgiveness and love." The Pope
expressed regret that this was “not always the case” during the recent
fighting and said this was a sign that “the Gospel has not yet
penetrated sufficiently deeply into the hearts of the people everywhere”
to prompt them to “change their reflexes and behaviour.”

Despite this, Pope Francis urged the bishops not to feel discouraged
by the conflict that has swept through their nation but instead find
through faith and hope, a renewed sense of enthusiasm and dynamism to
continue their work of evangelization.Referring to the ongoing efforts to guide the CAR towards peace, the
Pope said the bishops have an “irreplaceable prophetic” role to play in
bearing witness to the key values of justice, truth, honesty which form
the cornerstone of any renewal process. In this context, he also urged
them to continue their efforts “to promote dialogue and peaceful
co-existence between members of different religions and ethnic groups,”
saying this will encourage reconciliation and social cohesion.

Turning next to the question of priestly formation, Pope Francis said
there was a need for a particular emphasis on the human and affective
formation of the seminarians so that they are able to remain faithful to
their celibacy vows, saying no compromise on this can be accepted.

The Pope’s address concluded with words of encouragement and support
for the family, which he described as the best place to learn to
practice the culture of forgiveness, peace and reconciliation which is
so badly needed in the CAR.